


tessellate

by oceanism



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends With Benefits, M/M, request, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3401033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanism/pseuds/oceanism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started with a stranger’s smile and one too many rounds of alcohol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tessellate

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested by anonymous on [tumblr](http://shoubios.tumblr.com/post/111600735492/if-its-fine-with-you-can-i-request-a-solangelo). I feel like I wasn't able to write it sufficiently (I was aiming for more angst and a sad ending, Goddammit), but without association to the song, I think it's pretty decent. I still want to write the more angsty, appropriate version, though. (Also I didn't proofread it very well heh.) I hope you enjoy it!

It started with a stranger’s smile and one too many rounds of alcohol.

Will wasn’t the type of person who left parties with a stranger hanging on his arm, or vice versa. But this particular stranger was the only defined thing in the hazy world that was known as his mind right now, and he was fascinating, with his dark hair and hooded eyes, and the black clothes that hugged his body. His eyes were drawn to him, and he stole Will away like a magnet to a piece of iron.

It ended with messy sheets and a dorm room that seemed more quiet than usual.

Then it started again.

**:::**

He thought that he would never see the nameless stranger from last week again. They had met, after all, at a college party. Olympus U was gigantic, and even then, not everyone in the party had been from Olympus U. Sometimes you came in those and met people that you would never see again.

But there he was, hanging at the edge of the dance floor with a cup wrapped in his fingers and a smile on his face, looking just as perfect as he had on that night. He was talking to a pixie-like girl with dyed hair, but their interaction didn’t seem romantic. (Or maybe he was projecting.) Nico couldn’t tear his eyes away when Blondie started gesturing crazily to try and get his point across.

Then Percy Jackson just had to come and ruin everything. Even from across the room, he managed to ruin everything. It was pretty impressive, really. “Di Angelo! You actually came!” he shouted, managing to draw the attention of approximately fifteen other people in the room, including the one that Nico had just been staring at.

Nico whipped his head to shoot his friend a glare, but the damage was done. A quick glance backwards showed him the blond boy’s recognition, and that was all he needed to know.

Later on, when he was admittedly a little too tipsy to make the wisest of decisions, there was a tap on his shoulder. “You didn’t even leave a note.” The voice was low and quiet among all the noise, but Nico recognized it.

“Have you ever heard of the term _one-night-stand?_ ” he snapped, trying not to lean into the touch.

“What if I want a _two_ -night-stand?”

He finally turned around. Glared. “As if you would do something like that.”

“You don’t know the first thing about me.” The stranger leaned closer, now wearing a smile that usually wasn’t reserved for situations like this. “I would.”

**:::**

“My name is Nico, by the way.” The speaker was leaning on the door of Will’s dorm room, somehow looking uncomfortable and like he had done this a thousand times before at the same time. But then he smirked, and the former adjective vanished into vapor. “I don’t usually offer that, but I don’t want you saying my family name later. It’s a mouthful.”

_You know what else is a mouthful?_

Will felt his ears turn red and warmth pool in his stomach.

**:::**

“What’s your name again?”

“You never asked.”

“That’s because I’m _quiet_.”

“ _Fine._ It’s _Will_.”

“Will. Okay.”

**:::**

**From:** Will Solace  
 **Received:** 26 February ; 12:13 AM  
 **Message:** Come over.

**:::**

The _two_ -night-stand turned into a _three_ -night-stand, then a _four_ -night-stand— _five, six, seven, eight,_ until they finally decided to call it a _friends-with-benefits_ relationship. Except they weren’t really friends; just acquaintances at most.

Their relationship quickly devolved into shortly phrased text messages that only held some variant of _‘wanna fuck?’_ and nights spent in each other’s company, in the dirtiest sense of the word. He learned a lot of things; like how Nico wasn’t as quiet as he made himself out to be (Will especially liked it when he murmured things in Italian), how his tattoos felt in the dark, and how his shampoo, oddly, smelled like pomegranates. The first time they did it without the help of alcohol, he was trembling, treating Nico like he was a piece of china, and the latter got annoyed. He raked his nails on Will’s back and brought his head closer.

“What are you, a virgin?” Then he added, in a softer voice, “I’m not made of glass, you know.”

After that, Will let go.

And he never thought he would say this about a friends-with-benefits relationship (hell, he never thought he would be participating in one; he had experience, but they had been from _legit_ relationships, and “I would,” had been a half-lie) but for a while, it was perfect. They were two horny college boys, they were both pretty damn attractive, and they were both good at what they did. What could go wrong?

Feelings could.

Lately, he’d been feeling hollow whenever Nico got up and left like it was nothing—and suddenly he was left empty and cold, like how one side of his bed always felt like. And Nico always did; he always left, most of the time without a word, sometimes with a quick, mumbled thanks, and one time, with a small smile.

(At first, he had judged his performance by Nico’s reaction after the whole thing. But he quickly learned that that was not how the other boy worked. If anything, he would hide it if he thought that a session was particularly good.)

Whenever Nico began putting on his clothes again, Will would have this absolutely awful urge to grab his hand and drag him back to bed, maybe cuddle with him a little bit, and fall asleep by his side. He wanted to wake up to Nico di Angelo.

This was only going to end in disaster.

**:::**

The sex that night was particularly intense. It felt like both of them knew what was coming.

He hadn’t planned to say it, ( _not tonight_ , but then again, that was what he said every night) but it came out anyway. “I think we should stop doing this.”

Silence. He could hear—no, _feel_ Will’s breathing, so he knew that the other boy hadn’t fallen asleep. In that moment, he wanted to break the silence when he usually wanted to prolong it. (Because he wasn’t himself when he was with Will.) But he waited.

“Why?”

“It’s not the sex.” He sat up; _oh, if only_. “You’re not doing anything wrong.” _You’re too good. That’s the thing._ “I’m just really busy right now. I can’t keep this up.” _It’s ridiculous. You can’t fall in love because of sexual intimacy. So why?_

“…Okay. I understand.”

To be honest, the insouciance of the response surprised him a little, even though it really shouldn’t have. Will was this popular guy that everyone liked. He was all sunshine and smiles, and pretty blue eyes. He even wanted to be a doctor and help people (Nico knew too much about him, really, but at the same time it wasn’t enough); he was pretty much perfect, and Nico was like the skeleton in his closet. It was no wonder the blonde wasn’t too upset about ending this thing between them.

Will rolled over. He took it as his dismissal.

Nico had always been good at lying, even to himself. So as he walked out the door, he tried to convince himself that the reason he had stated had been the truth. He tried to convince himself that he was _not_ ending it because he might have, just maybe, broken his own no-strings rule. He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t running away.

It didn’t work very well.

**:::**

“Hey, roomie.”

“Yeah, Cecil?”

“Is di Angelo coming over tonight?”

“…No.”

**:::**

“I still believe that you should think more about this,” said Hazel from the foot of his bed and right across him. “You’re being unfair. On yourself.”

“I didn’t ask,” he insisted stubbornly, refusing to look away from the screen of his iPod.

She turned to Piper. “Do you see what I mean about him being even more emo than usual?”

_“Emo?”_

“Yeah, I definitely do.” Piper pursed her lips and gave him a stare that made him feel like she was analyzing every line on his face, every uncombed strand of hair on his head, and every wrinkle on his clothes. “You fell in love with him, didn’t you? And now you’re running away because you’re scared?”

He resisted the urge to bury his face in his pillow. “No.”

“I bet you even have a playlist with named after him in there.”

Now he _really_ glared at her. _“No.”_

“You’ll be willing to go on a blind date, then?” Piper asked, a little too eagerly to put him at ease. But she was always doing things like this anyway, and he had had to get used to it sooner or later because Jason was his friend, and Piper was Jason’s girlfriend. “I have a friend, who has a friend, who has been moping since forever because of heartbreak. Since you’re not in love with _him_ and all. It should be fine.”

“I don’t do dates, Piper.”

“It’s not like I’m asking you to get married with who it is.” She rolled her eyes. “I mean, you never know. I have a good feeling about this one, and maybe it’ll make you feel less depressed.”

“I am not depressed. Depression is a medical condition.”

“Sorry. But you know what I mean. Nico, come on. I’ll get off your case forever if you go to this one date.”

That caught his attention. He finally set his iPod on his lap, and he would take off his earphones as well, but that would feel too much a show of weakness of submission. Nevertheless, he knew that she knew that his complete attention was now on her. “Forever?”

“Forever.”

“Fine. Now can you guys leave me alone?” He shot a slightly softer glance at his sister. “Even you, Hazel.”

Soon enough, they finally went out of his dorm room. Valdez wasn’t due for another few hours, and he was blessedly alone for now. Alone, except for thoughts of blond hair, and blue eyes, and freckles spilled on the most unlikely of places.

Nico blushed.

Goddammit. This was Piper and Hazel’s fault; if only they hadn’t gallivanted in here and reminded him of Will. He had been doing a good job of not thinking about him.

_(Yeah, Nico. Keep telling yourself that.)_

At least one good thing came of it. He would have to endure just one more date, and then Piper would stop bothering him about his nonexistent love life. He’d done it many times before, though he had to admit that he was a little out of practice.

How hard could it be?

**:::**

It was a simple coffee date. The only thing unusual about it was that Will had no idea just who he was meeting.

(“It’ll be good for you,” Lou Ellen had said. “My friend isn’t unreliable. She’d never suggest a creep for a blind date.”

“I don’t know…”

Kayla had kicked him, gently. “C’mon. It might help you forget about what’s-his-face. At the very least, it’ll distract you for a while.”

“His name is Nico.”

“Yeah, him. Whatever.”)

He’d asked for a name, but Lou Ellen had raised her brow knowingly and denied his request, because she knew that he was only going to Google the person afterwards, which according to her, would “ruin the essence of the whole thing.”

Nervously, he glanced at his watch. He was way too nervous than he should be, and it was making him regret the decision to come early.

**:::**

**From:** Piper  
 **Received:** 4 April ; 2:01 PM  
 **Message:** don’t forget! we reserved the table in the far right corner for you guys. have fun!

 _Have fun._ Nico snorted. _As if._

The coffee shop was apparently a place that both he and the person he was meeting frequented. It was a cozy place a few blocks away from campus. He wondered if he had seen him there before, but he really wouldn’t know because he never paid attention to the other customers anyway.

The bell above the entrance made a familiar sound when he walked in. When he finally glanced towards the far right section, it wasn’t because he was looking for his date, but something else. He couldn’t remember what caught his attention first; it could have been the slight movement in his peripheral vision, or the blur of blond hair, or the tug in his gut that led his eyes in that particular direction.

There was no one else. It was unmistakable.

 **To:** Piper  
 **Sent:** 4 April ; 2:10 PM  
 **Message:** I am going to kill you

**:::**

“Uh. Hey.”

Nico nodded.

_What the fuck is going on?_

The bell above the door had chimed, signaling the entrance of a new customer, and somehow, Will had known that it would be him. It would be his date; his date, who wouldn’t be able to do anything concreteabout the state of his mood; his date, who wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to the way Nico di Angelo occupied, like, sixty percent of his mind. Because let’s face it—Will was optimistic, but he wasn’t _that_ optimistic.

He was only right about one of those things.

**:::**

“Are you—uh, just, what?”

Maybe if the circumstances had been different, he would have laughed at the absolute confusion on Will’s face.

Hesitantly, he took a seat across the tiny, round table. The urge to run out of the shop was tempting, but he was already _there_ and that would mean making his agreement with Piper void. But this wasn’t fair. Still, he decided to stay. “…I’m guessing you didn’t know about this, too?”

“Yeah…” Will chuckled. The sound was forced and unnatural. Stilted. Everything that Will wasn’t; but of course Nico couldn’t be sure, not really. He’d never let himself find out before. “My friends forced me into it. They got sick of my moping, I guess…”

“Moping.” He heard Piper’s words again, in the confines of his memory.

 _I have a friend, who has a friend, who has been moping since forever because of heartbreak_.

Heartbreak. He almost blushed.

But then again, who said that the heartbreak was about him? Will had acted fine when Nico broke it off. It was probably about someone else, though the blonde really didn’t seem like the type of person who would cheat on someone.

“Y-Yeah!” Will laughed, again. His ears were red. “I was moping because I was failing Bio.”

Nico recalled the Biology test that he had caught sight of once, just two weeks ago. It had been only one out of the many papers on Will’s desk. Perfect score.

Yeah. Somehow, he doubted that Will was telling the truth. But he didn’t push it.

He had no right.

**:::**

It was all painfully awkward.

Will ordered a cappuccino and Nico ordered black coffee. Figures.

The conversation attempts were all just plain pathetic. It was almost a relief when, somewhere in the middle of it all, they both gave up. Key word: _almost_. When they went thirty minutes straight without saying a word to each other, Will couldn’t stand it anymore.

Not only did he dislike the quiet, but his muscles itched for the chance to do something. You could say that he had always been a bit opportunistic. The realization came almost like an epiphany; a disbelieving thought that, hey, the chance was right in front of him, and he was letting it shrivel away.

“Hey.” He snapped his fingers, filled with renewed determination. His heart was still beating too fast—he could hear his own heartbeat—and his fingers shook if he didn’t fidget with them, but there was something else in his eyes.

He still had to try not to tremble when Nico looked up from his empty cup.

“…What?”

 _Don’t stutter._ “I,” he had to stop to clear his throat, Goddammit, “I think we need to clear the air.”

“We need no such thing.” Nico scowled, but Will had already figured that that would be the response, and that his companion wouldn’t budge.

So he said, “In three seconds, I’m going to say what’s my issue here, and you’re going to say yours. No arguments,” and he let his innate bossiness bleed into his speech.

Nico looked as affronted and indignant as Will had ever seen him. “I’m not going to—”

“One.”

“Fuck you.”

“Two.”

“….”

“Three.”

**:::**

“I was moping because of you.”

“I didn’t want to end it.”

**:::**

Instead of calming him, the implications of their mutual confessions in the air made the contents of his stomach stir and his heartbeat spike. It was accompanied by a sensation of lightheadedness, and he had to stop and wonder if this was what floating felt like.

Pretty much everything he was feeling right now was a symptom of something.

But if this was a sickness, Will didn’t want to be cured.

**:::**

There it was again, the urge to run away from things that scared him, and this scared him, yeah, but it also made him feel so warm and fuzzy it was shameful.

But then Will beamed, happiness so clear in his pretty blue eyes, and it filled Nico with a giddiness that threatened to overwhelm everything else.

“I think we need to start over.” He extended his hand across the table. “Hi. I’m Will Solace.”

It was silly and unnecessary, and it made him want to roll his eyes. For a moment, he thought he wasn’t going to take Will’s hand. But in the end, he did. “Nico di Angelo.”

Yeah. Maybe he could give this thing a chance, whatever it was.

**:::**

They would never be able to go back to being what they had been, but that was fine. He didn’t want to go back to _that_.

He wanted to be more.

**:::**

“Oh, and Nico, I’m coming over later, all right?”

And before Nico could even answer, Will bounded away, almost running. Sighing a little bit, he watched the blonde disappear into the building, before taking out his phone.

**:::**

**From:** Nico :D  
 **Received:** 4 April ; 5:40 PM  
 **Message:** Idiot. You forgot to ask for my room number. It’s 130

**:::**

Expectantly, Nico looked up when the door opened. “Hi.”

Will wasted no time with formalities. “I’m not sleeping with you before we watch at least three Disney movies,” he said, loudly and shamelessly, before gesturing at the laptop he was carrying. The declaration was surprising, but the other boy found himself warming up to it rather quickly. Not like he would admit that, though.

“I’m not sure I’ll be in the mood after three Disney movies,” Nico muttered, trying to sound annoyed about it.

It might have worked if he weren’t grinning so hard.

**Author's Note:**

>  **MY BIRTHDAY IS ON THE 26TH. I'M TURNING 15 AND I EXPECT FANFICTION/FANART GIFTS FROM YOU GUYS OK.** Nah, jk. It would be nice, but I don't want to pressure anyone so I'm not expecting anything. Hihi. I'm content with four boxes of irl pizza.


End file.
